The theory of cultural evolution by F. A. Hayek and evolutionary psychology (Part one)

In: Voprosy ėkonomiki: ežemesjačnyj žurnal, Heft 6, S. 5-25

Abstract

The paper highlights the theory of cultural evolution by F. A. Hayek, which in retrospect appears as a complex and deep system, in many respects anticipating the ideas of modern evolutionary psychology. The first part provides a general description of the Hayekian approach, examines its theoretical foundation, and discusses the main stages of cultural evolution. Hayek was far from considering cultural evolution to be a copy of biological evolution, emphasizing its nonDarwinian nature. He defined the phenomenon of culture as a set of traditions, norms and rules of conduct lying between the world of natural objects that exist independently of man and the world of artificial objects created by his will and intellect. Hayek considered the central event of cultural evolution to be the transition from small hunter-gatherer groups to modern complex society, which he depicted as "an extended order of human cooperation".